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(No Model.) 7 D. F. SULLIVAN.

GIRGULAR SPRING NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE. No. 431,292.

Patented July 1, I890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DANIEL F. SULLIVAN, OF LOWVELL, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO GEORGE F. BLAIR, OF SAME PLACE.

CIRCULAR SPRING-NEEDLE KNITTING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 431,292, dated July 1, 1890. Application filed December 20, 1889- Serial No. 334.396. (No model.)

To a.ZZ whom, it may concern.

Be ltknown that I, DANIEL F. SULLIVAN, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Lowell,

.loop-wheel at such a height as to carry the yarn under the beards of all said needles or at will at such a height as to carry the yarn under the beards of the short-bearded needles only; and it consists, also, in other devices and combinations hereinafterdescribed and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an isometric perspective View of so much of a circular spring-needle knitting machine as is necessary to illustrate my invention with my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a central section in the plane of the axis of the loop-wheel stud of the upper horizontal part of a loop-wheel stand to which my improvement is applied, showing also the loop-wheel in central section in its lower position, showing also in side elevation a long-bearded and a short-bearded needle. Fig. 3 is like Fig. 2, except that the loop-wheel is in its higher position, myimprovement being shown in Figs. 2 and 3 as adapted to be operated by hand, while in Fig. l automatic means of operating said improvement are shown; Figs. 4 and 5, projections of a part of the head and a row of 1 short and long bearded needles and a line representing a yarn, which in Fig. t runs below the beards-of all the needles and in Fig. 5 runs below the beards of the short-bearded needles only.

The supporting bed or table A, the needlecylinder 1- carrying needles C C, the adjustable loop-wheel stand or star-box D, and the loop-wheel E are all of the usual construction and operation, except as hereinafter described.

Usually all the needles in the same cylinder have beards of uniform length; but this is not always the case. In Figs. 1, 4, and 5 a series of four short-bearded needles is repre sented as alternating with single long-bearded needles. The loop-wheel E makes stitches or loops by pressing the yarn between the shanks of the needles and below the boards of the same, and unless the yarn falls below the beard of any needle no stitch will be formed by that needle. The loop-wheel E, when in its lower or normal position, carries the yarn under the beards of all the needles and forms as many loops in a course or in one revolution of the needle-cylinder as there are needles both long-bearded and short-bearded in said cylinder; but if the loop-wheel is slightly raised, as by the means hereinafter described or otherwise, so as to carry the yarn over the beards of the long-bearded needles and under the beards of the short-bearded needles, no stitch will be formed by the longbearded needles, and there will be as many d rep-stitches or mock-ribs, so called, as there are longbearded needles in the cylinder. It is frequently desirable to knit the legs or the upper portions of the same of hosiery with mockribs and to knit the lower part of the leg and foot plain.

The means I adopt for changing from ribbed work to plain consists of a piece F, which, from its office, I call a litter, the same being a piece of metal, the inner edge of which is beveled or wedge shaped and may be crowded under the hub of the loop-wheel E to raise said wheel on its stud e. As represented, the piece F is L-shaped in section, its horizontal part resting upon the loop-wheel standand'its vertical part being secured to a rod G, which runs through a hole concentric with the axisof the spindle e or radiallyadjustable portions of the loop-wheel stand. The outer end of the rodG maybe provided with a button or knob II, adapted to be grasped by the fingers to push said rod inward toward the loop-wheel or to draw it outward from said loop-wheel. hen the rod G is pushed inward into the position shown in Fig. 3, the lower part of the piece F is crowded under the hub of the loop-wheel and raises it slightly, enough to cause the loopwheel to carry the yarn above the lower end of the beards of the longbearded needles 0', as shown in Fig. 5; but when the rod is drawn outward or away from the loop-Wheel and the loop-wheel rests in its usual position upon the spindle of the loop-wheel stand, the loopwheel carries the yarn below the beards of all the needles and knits plain work.

It is not absolutely essential that the yarnguide I, which is provided with a yarn-eye t, and is commonly fixed on the loop-Wheel stand at a certain height relatively to the height of the loop-wheel, should be raised and lowered when the change is made from plain work to ribbed Work, or vice versa; but it is better that the yarn-eye i should be so raised, especially where the beards of the needles vary greatly in length. I therefore preferably provide the piece F with a laterally-extending arm or pin f, which reaches through an inclined slot t" in the yarn-guide, and I pivot the yarn-guide on a stud or screw passing through the outer end of said guide into the loop-wheel stand, the inclination of said slot 1" being such that the longitudinal movement of the rod G and the armf raises the yarn i at the same time the loop-wheel is raised and to an equal amount. I

In Fig. 1 automatic means are shown for imparting a longitudinal movement to the rod G. The outer end of the rod G in Fig. 1 is provided with a collar K, having an annular groove to receive the forked upper end Z of a lever L, pivoted at its lower end Z on a bracket Z secured to the bed A, and a leafspring M is secured to said bracket and presses upon the lever L above its fulcrum and normally presses said lever and the rod G inward to hold the loop-wheel in a raised position. The lever L is provided with a stud Z which projects inward toward the needlecylinder and bears upon the periphery of a cam-wheel N, journaled upon a bracket a, secured to the bed A. The cam-wheel N is represented as having a periphery consisting of two oppositely-arranged arcs 'n' of equal radius and having an angular measurement of ninety degrees each, and two other arcs n of a greater radius. The wheel N is providedwith an internally-toothed annular ratchet n engaged by a pawl 0, pivoted at 0 to the ratchet-lever O and held in engagement with said ratchet by a spring 0 secured to said lever O and pressing upon said pawl. The lever 0 is pivoted at 0 upon the loopwheel stand, and its inner end, or end next the needie-cylinder, is drawn down by a spring 0, connecting the inner arm of said lever and the bed A. The needle-cylinder B is provided with a cam 12, which once in every revolution of said cylinder strikes and throws upward the inner end of the lever O andcauses the pawl at the outer end of said lever to rotate the cam-wheel N an angular distance represented by one tooth of the ratchet if, so that in a number of revolutions of the needlecylinder equal to the number of teeth in said ratchet the cam-wheel N will make a complete rotation. The difference of radius of the ares n on the one hand and the arcs n on the other hand is sufficient to vary the position of the lever L and rod G enough to raise the loop-wheel to its highest position when the arcs 'n' are in contact with the stud Z and to allow the loop-wheel to fall when the arcs n are in contact with such stud.

Obviously another loop-wheel, as shown at E' in Fig. 1 in dotted lines, may be used, said last-named wheel running at a fixed height and low enough to carrry the yarn under the beards of all the needles. If such an additional loop-wheel be used and yarns of different colors be introduced into the machineone color by each loop-wheelthe groundwork of the fabric will show a mixture of these colors; but only the color introduced bythe wheel E will show on the long-bearded needlesthat is, the fabric will have vertical stripes of the color carried by said last-named loop-wheel. Obviously the width of the stripes of pure color will depend on the number of adjacent long-bearded needles. It is undesirable to use too many adjacent long-bearded needles in connection with the improvement above described, because the yarn carriedby the loop-wheel E floats on the wrong side of the fabric where the stripes of pure color come, such stripes of pure color appearing only'on the face of the fabric by floats meaning yarns which are not incorporated into the body of the fabric.

1 claim as my invention- 1. The combination of the needle-cylinder, long-bearded needles alternating with series of short-bearded needles, a loop-wheel normally carrying its yarn under the beards of all said needles, and means of raising said loop-wheel to carry said yarn under the beards of said short-bearded needles only, as I and for the purpose specified.

2. -The combination of the needle-cylinder, a series of needles arranged therein, a part of said needles having longer-beards than the rest thereof, a loop-wheel normally carrying its yarn under the beards of all of said needles, and a lifter to raise said loop-wheel and to carry its yarn under the beards of the short-bearded needles only, as and for the purpose specified.

3. The combination of the needle-cylinder, short-bearded needles and long-bearded needles, the loop-wheel, a lifter arranged below said wheel, a loopwheel stand supporting said wheel and lifter, a rod secured to said lifter and extending horizontally through a hole with which said loop-wheel stand is provided to enable said loop-wheel to be raised and lowered by the movement of said rod to cause the yarn carried by said loop-wheel to be introduced under the beards of all of said needles or under the beards of the shortbearded needles only, as and for the purpose specified.

4. The combination of the needle-cylinder, long-bearded needles and short-bearded needles, the loop-Wheel stand, the loop-Wheel supported thereon, the lifter adapted to be pushed under said loop-wheel to raise the same and having alaterally-projecting pin, a yarn-guide pivoted on said loop-Wheel stand and having a yarn-eye and also having an inclined slot to receive said projecting pin, whereby the movement of said lifter will vary the height of said loop-Wheel and yarn-eye relatively to the beards of said needles without changing the height of said loop-Wheel and yarn-eye relatively to each other, as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination of the needle-cylinder provided with long-bearded needles and With short-bearded needles, the loop-Wheel stand, the loop-Wheel supported thereon, a litter adapted to be moved under said loop-Wheel to raise the same, and automatic means, substantially as described, of moving said lifter at the completion of a given number of revolutions of said needle-cylinder, as and for the purpose specified.

6. The combination of the needle-cylinder having long-bearded needles and short-bearded needles, the loop-Wheel stand, the loop- Wheel supported thereon, the lifter arranged to slide upon said stand under said loop-Wheel and out from under the same, a rod secured to said litter and arranged to slide in a horizontal hole with which said loop-wheel stand is provided, said rod havin a collar, the bed, the lever pivoted on said bed and provided at its upper end with a fork to engage said 001- lar, a spring to press upon said lever and to push said litter under said loop-wheel, said lever beingprovided with a stud, a cam-wheel having a cam-surface bearing against said stud and having also a ratchet, a ratchet-operating lever having a pawl to engage said ratchet, a cam on said needle-cylinder arranged to operate said ratehet-operating lever in one direction, and another spring to operate said ratchet-operating lever in the other direction, as and for the purpose specified.

In Witness whereof I have signed this specification, in the presence of two attesting Witnesses, this 23d day of November, A. D. 1889.

DANIEL F. SULLIVAN.

Witnesses:

ALBERT M. MOORE, MYRTIE C. BEALs. 

